General

PLASA Awards Nominees On Display

Details: 14 March 2016

The 56 products nominated for this year’s PLASA Awards for Product Excellence are currently available for visitors to view on the Top Deck of Earls Court, in the Lighting&Sound International-sponsored New Technology Gallery (pictured). The Gallery allows a one-stop view of all the latest product innovations in the categories of Lighitng, Sound, Stage Engineering and Audio-Visual. Judging for the Awards will take place during the show, by a panel of experts from each respective field. The winners will be announced at a special ceremony at 9.30 on Wednesday morning, at which time PLASA will also present the money raised from the Awards entries to a number of charities.

To view the complete list of products entered for the PLASA Awards for product Excellence, visit the web address below:

Design Led - Ruth Rossington profiles Furneaux Stewart

Details: 14 March 2016

You can tell a lot about a person from their business card, so I’m not quite sure what I was meant to make of my first meeting with John Furneaux, Nick Swallow and Caroline Buchanan of the Furneaux Stewart agency. Each proffered a handful of their own business cards in a range of different colours. Afraid my choice of colour might give them some insight into the murkier workings of my mind, I took one of every hue and a few to spare. I later came to realise, of course, that this simple exchange was not about me, it was about them: the business cards are simply another expression of what they do - take the familiar and think outside the box.

As a design and communications agency, it earns its living transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, whether it be for a product launch, exhibition stand, new visitor attraction or an interpretation project at a heritage site. I guess

News from New York

Details: 14 March 2016

PLASA Media has heard from Brad Mackie of New Jersey-based Prism Theatrical Lighting. Brad tells us that on Tuesday his crew were working on a dance series with leading New York ballet companies at the base of the first of the World Trade Center towers to be struck, and were just beginning rehearsals at the time of impact. Brad wants to let everyone know that all the production crew members from RSA Audio, Prism Theatrical Lighting, CSS Staging and MPE Generators got out of the building safely.

TMB Supporting US Relief Efforts

Details: 14 March 2016

In an effort to support the victims of the recent attacks on the United States, TMB is collecting donations of money and clothing in both of its US locations and encouraging employees to donate blood at their local Red Cross. On September 14, the LA office shipped out the first pallet of West Coast donations, along with a large quantity of socks, raingear and tarpaulins, to the Red Cross relief effort. TMB CEO Colin Waters is issuing a call to other companies in the lighting industry to do the same: "We are terribly shocked and saddened by the recent attacks and want to do everything we can to show our support to the victims and relief workers. I hope that all of the companies in our industry will make similar efforts. With so many caring and capable people in the lighting community, we can make a significant difference when it is needed most."

If you work in the LA or NY are

PLASA 2001 Shines in the Eyes of the Industry

Details: 14 March 2016

PLASA 2001, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association’s annual entertainment technology showcase, held at Earls Court from 9-12 September, received an overwhelming thumbs up from exhibitors and visitors alike.

Understandably, the horrific events in New York and Washington cast a shadow over the Show, not least because of the large number of American exhibitors and visitors who always support the event. The shock of the news was felt widely across the show floor, but it quickly turned to a resolve to keep the Show open and a determination that business should go ahead as usual.

Attendance figures were boosted 4.5% on last year’s event as 13,373 visitors (subject to ABC audit) attended the spectacular four-day show to witness the unveiling of the industry’s latest innovations. Of these visitors, an amazing 25% were international. Results of an exit survey showed

Innovative New Products Receive Top Honours at PLASA

Details: 14 March 2016

Six new products showcased at the Professional Lighting and Sound Association’s (PLASA) annual entertainment and technology show in London this week received top honours in the Show’s prestigious Awards for Product Excellence.

Living up to its reputation as the industry’s premier launch pad, the PLASA Show saw a record 56 technical innovations new to the market this year nominated for the Awards. All entries were featured in the New Technology Gallery, sponsored by Lighting&Sound International, which attracted enormous visitor and exhibitor attention and certainly took centre stage.

The awards were presented for Design Excellence and Technical Innovation in four categories: Lighting; Sound; Audio-Visual and Stage Engineering. The winners were presented with a PLASA Award for Product Excellence trophy, specially designed by DHA Lighting. Talking about the Awards, MD

Book of Condolence

Details: 14 March 2016

Following the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September, and in light of comments received from PLASA members, PLASA has organized an online Book of Condolence for members of the industry to record their respects for the victims of the attacks. The first messages have already been posted and the Book will remain open until the end of September, after which time the contents will be presented to ESTA for their archives.

LDI 2001 to Continue as Planned

Details: 14 March 2016

The LDI Show will go ahead as planned from November 2-4 in Orlando. In response to a number of enquiries following the events in New York and Washington, the organizers are keen to reassure people, through a statement posted on their website, that the exhibition will go ahead as usual. "We at LDI would like to express our deepest sympathy to all who are affected by the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Our thoughts are with you. We cannot let terrorists bring world business to a halt and we at LDI and Primedia Business Exhibitions feel it is very important that all businesses show their resilience. At this time, we do not foresee major disruptions for a smooth and successful show floor opening on Friday, November 2, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. LDInstitute is still scheduled to open on Monday, October 29."

If any exhibitors or visitors have a

New Voice for Rental Companies

Details: 14 March 2016

A new organization representing professional audio and lighting rental companies has been established in The Netherlands. PRESA - Production Rental Equipment Services Association - like fellow organizations ESTA and PSA, has been set up to promote safe working conditions, high technical standards and regular contact between professional rental companies.

Behind the new association are Ampco Pro Rental, Flashlight, Focus Show Equipment, Improve and R&R Show Equipment, all well established companies in the entertainment industry. Chairman Antoinette Wijffels told PLASA Media: "We have finally managed to create a platform where members can exchange ideas, and one which we hope will lead to an even more professional attitude towards clients. We can now also negotiate on important matters at government level, which, as individual companies, was not possible before."

Show of Strength

Details: 14 March 2016

It seemed like business as usual: another year, another PLASA Show. Existing products, refinements of products, new products; familiar faces mingling with the next generation of entertainment industry practitioners all anxious to find out what was new.

Then came Tuesday September 11th and the PLASA Show faded into the background. Word from New York spread quickly around the hall. The atmosphere was surreal because the events that those who had received phone calls from the States were describing, couldn’t possibly have taken place, even in the wildest imaginations of those who work in this crazy business of ours that specializes in dreaming up the impossible then making it happen.

But as those who gathered in the Platinum Club lounge to watch the news live quickly found - all this, and more, was true. We watched the second World Trade Centre Tower crumble live in front of our e

Audio Team Wins Annual Cricket Challenge

Details: 14 March 2016

There was not much in the way of cricketing glory for England this summer, but there was one glorious day on the field at Littlewick Green, Berkshire, on August 23rd, courtesy of PLASA member Hayden Laboratories.

Three squads competed for the third annual Hayden Laboratories Pro Sound & Lighting Cricket Trophy, in which teams representing the PLASA Show's lighting and sound exhibitors took on the might of the PLASA Show organisers, Clarion Events. After successfully defending their title in 2000, Clarion were set for a fall this year, and fall they did, losing in the final to the PLASA Audio team, captained by Hayden Labs' Simon Curtis.

All three teams fielded some great performances during the day, with only one notable injury - to the neck of PLASA's financial controller Shane McGreevy (playing for PLASA Lighting), who took a show-stopping catch to send Clarion's James Brooks-Ward

Free Health & Safety Courses from BBC

Details: 14 March 2016

This month the BBC is running free courses for anyone in the broadcast industry to mark European Week for Safety and Health at Work 2001. This initiative aims to provide every opportunity for those in the broadcast industry to increase their knowledge and safety awareness. Key areas covered in all of the courses include risk assessment, responsibilities, control, co-ordination and communication.

Bob Forster, BBC Health and Safety Manager, says: "The lack of safety competence is one of the contributory factors in many accidents within the broadcast industry. Through this programme, anybody from stunt artists to special effects supervisors will be able to attend free training at a convenient location."

The BBC initiative has been warmly welcomed by the HSE, which has said: "Everyone has a responsibility for their own health and safety and all those involved in broadcasti

PLASA Launches Cash Plan with Forester Health

Details: 14 March 2016

At the PLASA Show, PLASA launched a new initiative in association with Forester Health, designed to pay for basic healthcare needs no longer fully funded by the NHS and to provide financial assistance in the event of hospitalization, accident or the birth of a child.

The Forester Cash Plan is not just another Private Medical Insurance (PMI) scheme - it complements the facilities of the NHS and will also complement and enhance existing PMI schemes because of the different types of benefits provided. The plan will cover pre-existing conditions for all PLASA members - companies and individuals - who sign up for the scheme before 31 December 2001.

Under the Cash Plan, cash refunds are provided for dental treatment (100% refund), eye tests, prescription glasses and contact lenses (100% refund), prescription charges and physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic homeopathic acupuncture, refle

Test Evacuation for West End Theatres

Details: 14 March 2016

An emergency exercise involving the mass evacuation of several London theatres will take place this month as part of a campaign to mark European Week for Safety and Health. The Ambassador Theatre Group, which owns nine West End theatres, is planning to ask patrons and employees to carry out timed evacuations after each performance during the week, which begins on October 15.

The Group is one of thousands of organizations throughout the UK set to take part in this annual event which this year focuses on the prevention of workplace accidents. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the main organizers of the event in the UK, has received a record-breaking 100,000 requests for action packs - almost double last year’s figure. Provisional statistics for the year 2000/01 indicate an increase of 34% in fatalities among Britain’s workers, with 295 deaths compared to 220 in 1999/200

Bytecraft Collects Beijing Contract

Details: 14 March 2016

Australian company Bytecraft has won the contract to supply the Beijing Grand National Theatre with its control system and electrics. The state-funded Opera is scheduled for completion in December 2004 and the Bytecraft contract - which covers both the control system featuring 400 axis of control and electrics and is worth $32million - will see the creation of one of the biggest control systems in the world. Bytecraft expects to go on site in early 2002 and remain there until the venue opens.

Gary Moore

Details: 14 March 2016

Now here’s an artist looking for a voice - literally. Since the demise of the ‘cock on legs’, Thin Lizzy’s guitarist has been in need of a singer. As a guitarist he stands tall, maybe not a Robert Cray or Mark Knopfler, but nonetheless he does have his own style, and it sells. As Andy Crookston (tour manager), Mark Scrimshaw (lighting designer) and Andy May (house engineer) all confirmed, "he tours year after year, and makes money."

He also produces an album every two years or so, and on tonight’s evidence he certainly has an ear for a melody. And that’s essentially why he needs a voice; for the bluesy part of his repertoire he can get away with his shouty vocals, just another cracked walnut veneer on the guitar of melancholy, but when it comes to Parisian Walkway and the like, he needs a voice that can match all the subtlety and nuance of

Safety by Design

Details: 14 March 2016

Orchard Road in Singapore is the main thoroughfare of this City State. Rivalling Rodeo Drive as a retail nirvana, Ngee Ann City is its focal point, a modern shopping plaza filled by the world’s leading designer brands. It was also the site chosen by one of the most highly respected amongst them - Chanel - to launch its new collection to the Far-Eastern world.

One major problem though. Being the tropics, most afternoons the plaza is deluged by rain of unbelievable ferocity - not the ideal environment then for a fashion show. Which is why event producers Faber Image, and particularly director Robert Seah, began to give this conundrum some serious thought. "This was to be a big show, a reception followed by the fashion parade for a seated audience of almost 1,000. We needed a large, flexible structure, at least 40 by 20 metres, and it needed to be elegant as befits our client.&

RML Appoints Marketing Manager

Details: 14 March 2016

Samantha Forrester has been appointed by Richard Martin Lighting (RML) to take up the newly-created position of marketing manager. RML is a specialist rental supplier of intelligent lighting and control systems to the film and television industry. The company’s clients have included Top of the Pops, The Spice Girls, SMTV Live, BBC Studios, Comic Relief and The Brit Awards. Previous to this appointment, Forrester was marketing coordinator at Martin Professional UK.

Brief Encounter

Details: 14 March 2016

Mark Henderson is an LD of long standing and someone with considerable experience of the business of being a lighting designer. L&SI caught up with him recently at The Peacock Theatre in London, where he was in the midst of lighting Victoria Wood’s new live show. We took the opportunity to invite him to unravel a few of the mysteries of lighting design.

"I think 75% of what a lighting designer does is solving problems. So much of the design thought process is about creating the best picture within the limitations you’re working to - and there are always limitations! If you remember the basics of lighting design you can usually get a good end result - it may not always be the end result you were hoping for, but it can be a pleasant surprise.

"Don’t ever forget the basics: cover the performance area in a simple way and hopefully leave yourself something to p

Probably the Best Festival . . .

Details: 14 March 2016

The summer is about Festivals and this year was no exception: in late August, L&SI mingled with the crowds at the Reading Festival, part of the Carling Festival Weekend, which also plays in Leeds and Glasgow.

Sound for Reading (and Leeds too) was supplied by SSE. Chris Beale explained that the company had adopted a slightly different approach for the main stages this year, using BSS systems to split the Nexo systems into six separate zones and thereby optimize performance and controllability.

SSE used SIA SmartPro computer-based analysis software to give them precise system control. This ensured both systems behaved in exactly the same way in terms of SPL, EQ, dynamic performance and other general characteristics, allowing bands to have as near the same sound as possible at both sites - notwithstanding the natural variants of wind and atmosphere. True to form, the elements remained

Boxing Clever - Ruth Rossington profiles Oakleigh Cases

Details: 14 March 2016

Oakleigh Cases specializes in the design and manufacture of flightcases and padded bags - those essential items too often taken for granted - which protect sensitive (and often very costly) equipment from both the rigours of travel and difficult environmental conditions on location. It’s a role that this family-run business has carried out successfully for 25 years - hence my visit to meet with directors Richard and Liz Puxley and general manager Martin Cockton, to learn more about a business that, in truth, I thought was relatively simple. It’s far from it.

Richard Puxley started Oakleigh Cases with his uncle in 1976: like others in the industry, his interest had been fostered by his father, who manufactured record player and tape recorder cases. The fledgeling company started in the the British Rail Yard in Camden Town, north London. By a stroke of luck, in one of the ad

PSA: Collection for WTC Widow

Details: 14 March 2016

The Production Services Association has opened a collection for the widow of Danny Lee, who had been working as a set carpenter on the Back Street Boys’ tour. Danny was killed aboard American Airlines flight 11 which hit the World Trade Centre’s South Tower on 11th September. Danny, 34, was returning home from Boston to Los Angeles to be with his 30 year old wife, Kellie, for the birth of their second daughter. Two days later she gave birth to a healthy, 8lb 2oz baby named Allison Danielle.

Danny had been on Patrick Stansfield’s staff for some years. More recently he had toured with N’Sync, Yanni, Bette Midler, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand. A fund has been set up in Los Angeles for the benefit of Danny’s widow and, at the request of the trustees of the PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund, the PSA has set up a bank account to collect and consolidate UK and E

Nominations for PLASA Elections

Details: 14 March 2016

Nominations are currently being accepted from PLASA’s Full Members for the forthcoming Executive Committee Elections. The deadline for nominations is 15 November, and voting forms will be issued to PLASA members the following day. There are three three-year seats on the Committee up for re-election, due to Diane Grant (DHA Lighting), Paul Hinkly (LMC Audio) and David Hopkins OBE (Audio Design Services) all coming to the end of their elected terms. In addition, there is a one-year term available, as Paul Adams of PAI Group has chosen to stand down from the Committee at the end of the year.

All Full Members of PLASA are reminded that nominations for election must be submitted by 15 November at the latest. The election results will be announced on 3 December.

SIB 2002

Details: 14 March 2016

PLASA will be sponsoring a UK exhibitor group to the SIB 2002 exhibition, which will run from 24-27 March in Rimini, Italy.

The DTI’s SESA (Support for Exhibitions and Seminars Abroad) funding programme will cover 60% of proven stand and construction costs, up to a ceiling of £2,300. In addition, PLASA will provide shared telephone and fax facilities and full on-site support for members of the Exhibitor Group. PLASA Members benefit from a reduced management fee for this service.

For more information, e-mail trade@plasa.org, or visit the PLASA Website at www.plasa.org/events

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